Welcome to the final episode of Wear Who You Are for 2025! We have the honor of speaking with Fiona Dieffenbacher, an Associate Professor of Fashion at Parsons School of Design. Fiona's work expertly intertwines the realms of dress, embodiment, and spirituality, providing valuable insights into how clothing impacts our emotional and social well-being. Fiona shares her journey into the world of fashion education and her tenure at Parsons, emphasizing her passion for teaching, enacting change, and the importance of research in understanding the intricacies of fashion. Natalie and Fiona also bond over their spiritual religious practices and how their spirituality, the soul, and the body are all linked.

What we love most, however, is of course how her research focuses on how dress acts as a medium through which we express ourselves. Sound familiar? Natalie and Fiona discuss the research work on “Dress & Emotion,” which highlights varying perceptions of clothing, from uniformity and persona to provocation and protection. Additionally, this episode delves into Fiona’s “Outlier Initiative,” which shares surprising interviews, revealing highly unique insights into people’s relationships with their clothing. Fiona’s research also focuses on articulating the “space in between,” fostering understanding between fashion, philosophy, and theology. She challenges misconceptions within these intersections, encouraging us to consider how our clothing choices reflect deeper truths about ourselves and society. As a seasoned insider of the fashion industry, Fiona also discusses inclusivity and the evolution of beauty standards within the industry. She provides a critical perspective on the efforts made towards representation but also identifies areas demanding improvement. Through teaching her students about body positivity and inclusion, she aims to cultivate a more compassionate future for fashion.

Read More About Fiona’s Research

Books Recommended by Fiona:

• Fashion Theology by Robert Covolo
• Silhouettes of the Soul by Otto von Busch
• The Social Psychology of Clothing: Symbolic Appearances in Context by Susan B. Kaiser

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